The Southern District of New York declared that plaintiff Monjasa A/S was not bound by an arbitration agreement to which neither it nor the defendant was a party. The case stems from a fuel delivery contract between two non-parties, Monjasa Lda and Angola de Navegacao Lda (ANNA). The contract called for Monjasa Lda to supply fuel to a ship known as the BBC Scotland. Monjasa Lda and the plaintiff are wholly separate subsidiaries of Monjasa Group. The defendant underwrote an insurance policy covering the BBC Scotland and its owner. The dispute arose after the BBC Scotland collided with and damaged the Golden Oak, a fuel tanker that Monjasa Lda arranged under the fuel contract, forcing Monjasa Lda to send a different tanker – the Duzgit Venture – to complete the delivery.
Subsequently, various parties – excluding the plaintiff – engaged in settlement discussions regarding the damage to the Golden Oak. The defendant, as insurer for the BBC Scotland parties, ultimately funded the settlement, after which it sent an arbitration demand to the plaintiff seeking reimbursement. According to the defendant, the plaintiff was liable for the settlement and subject to arbitration based on the general Monjasa Group terms and conditions incorporated by reference in the Monjasa Lda/ANNA contract. As support, the defendant cited a reference on the fuel delivery receipt issued by the Duzgit Venture stating that the sale was “governed by terms and conditions between Vessel and Monjasa A/S, acting as principal.” The plaintiff responded by filing this action.
Because there was no dispute that the plaintiff and the defendant were not parties to the contract between Monjasa Lda and ANNA, the district court found that the plaintiff could only be bound by its terms under agency principles. In that regard, the court ruled that the defendant failed to prove that Monjasa Lda was acting with actual or apparent authority to bind the plaintiff when it contracted with ANNA. The court also found that it was the defendant’s burden to prove that it was entitled to enforce a contract to which it was not a party. Although acting as subrogee of the BBC Scotland’s owner, the court found no connection between the owner of the BBC Scotland and the fuel delivery contract. Further, the court held that no reasonable fact-finder could conclude that the owner of the BBC Scotland was a third-party beneficiary of the contract. Accordingly, the court granted the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and denied the defendant’s cross-motion to compel arbitration, finding that the defendant had no basis to invoke the arbitration clause in the first instance.
Monjasa A/S v. Mund & Fester GmbH & Co. KG, No. 1:19-cv-06143 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 6, 2020).
